How To Completely Change Your Life In 5 Minutes (My Deep Work Routine) | Dr. Rangan Chatterjee

1. 0:00 – 2:57

   Is a Five-Minute Change Realistic for Busy People?

   1. SPSpeaker0:00

      When you wrote, uh, Feel Better in 5, is that, is that realistic? Like, you're a busy man, right? You ha- you have your business. You have your family. We're all ... We talked about juggling [laughs] and we're all juggling. You know, what are you doing, and is it really possible to, to isolate five minutes and, and ha- and for happiness and health?

   2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:19

      Yeah, i- 100%. Look, it sounds a bit like a gimmick, doesn't it, five minutes? But if I think about my own life and how I've managed to look after my brain, my body, my heart whilst being, you know, married, two young children, busy job, as well as my job as a medical doctor. You know, I write a book a year. I, I host a podcast. I also for many years have cared for my elderly parents.

   3. SPSpeaker0:46

      Mm-hmm.

   4. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:47

      Right? So I get what it feels like to be busy, but I've always found a way to look after myself through that busyness. And one of the things I always found with patients is they will always say to me, "Rangan, I d- I d- I d- I don't have time. You know, I, I want to be healthy, but I don't have time."

   5. SPSpeaker1:06

      Hmm.

   6. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee1:07

      And I thought this really interesting because let's take toothbrushing as an example. We kinda know that if we brush our teeth for two minutes in the morning and two minutes in the evening, which hopefully everyone listening to the show right now does-

   7. SPSpeaker1:19

      Yes. Please do that

   8. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee1:20

      ... we know that four minutes a day of toothbrushing, generally speaking, is gonna look after our dental hygiene for life. Sure, you're gonna have a checkup, and you may need some polishing and cleaning, whatever. But by and large, what we don't do is go, "Oh, I'm, I'm too busy on Monday, you know? I don't have time for my brushing."

   9. SPSpeaker1:41

      [laughs]

   10. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee1:41

       "Work's busy. I've gotta take, pick the kids up," right? Tuesday, Wednesday, we don't do that and then go, "Oh, the weekend. On Sunday, I'm gonna do a one-hour deep clean on my teeth."

   11. SPSpeaker1:52

       Hmm.

   12. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee1:52

       We don't do that. We ... You know, anyone listening now knows that that sounds ridiculous, yet when it comes to behavior change for our health, for our brains, right, we make it too difficult. We make it really hard. People think that five minutes is not enough, so they stop doing anything that's gonna help them, and this is why they try and go for, like, a one-hour walk at the weekend or a one-hour yoga session. Nothing wrong with that, but in my view, not a substitute for daily practices that can help you, and these practices don't need to take long. Just like toothbrushing can take four minutes a day, I do a workout, a strength workout every single day. I haven't missed a day for maybe three or four years now.

   13. SPSpeaker2:37

       Wow.

   14. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:38

       And I would say, I would argue it has nothing to do with motivation. It's because I've applied the principles of behavior change into my life, right? And, and a lot of the time we don't follow those principles, those rules when it comes to ourselves, right? So I'll explain the behavior first.

   15. SPSpeaker2:57

       Mm-hmm.

2. 2:57 – 7:17

   Rule One: Make It Easy (The Kitchen Workout)

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:57

      Right? How do I do this? Well, I have a morning routine, which we can maybe get into if you want to, but one component of that morning routine is a five-minute strength workout, right? So how do I do that? Well, there's two rules of behavior change. I mean, in the book there's my six rules, right? But the two rules I think I, I'd love to share with people are, number one, you gotta make it easy.

   2. SPSpeaker3:19

      Yeah.

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:19

      Right? So why do you have to make it easy? Uh, you know, you and me are both good friends with Professor BJ Fogg, you know, world-leading expert in behavior change from Stanford. Uh, we had a great chat a few years ago because what was really great about our conversation was that the things that I had figured out through seeing patients, he figured out through research. So our, our conversations together was a beautiful kind of meeting of clinical experience from me and scientific research from BJ, and we basically came to the same conclusion, that these small habits done consistently are how most people make changes, right? So the reason I do my workout every day is because it's not a one-hour workout. It's not a 30-minute workout. It's five minutes.

   4. SPSpeaker4:06

      Hmm.

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:07

      Even on my busiest days, I can't say I don't have time, right? I do have five minutes. So what do I do? One of the things I do in my morning routine is I come into my kitchen, and I make coffee. Now, I'm very particular with how I make coffee. I, I, I like the ritual around it. I, I like a specific type of coffee, right? So I get out my French press, I weigh out my coffee, I pour in the water, and I put a timer on my phone for five minutes because that's how long I like it to brew for. Now, in those five minutes, Jim, I don't go on email. I don't go on Instagram.

   6. SPSpeaker4:40

      Mm-hmm.

   7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:40

      I don't scroll the news, right? In the five minutes whilst I'm waiting for the coffee, I do a strength workout in my pajamas. Right? Now, this is really important. Why do I do it in my pajamas? Well, I've made it about as easy as possible, right? I'm in my kitchen. I've just, I've come down. I'm in my pajamas. I've got a dumbbell and a kettlebell sitting in my kitchen.

   8. SPSpeaker5:06

      Mm-hmm.

   9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee5:07

      Now, sometimes it's body weight. Sometimes I just do some few exercises with the kettlebell. But before you know it, five minutes is up. Then I put them down, and I'm rewarded with my beautiful hot cup of coffee.

   10. SPSpeaker5:21

       Hmm.

   11. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee5:21

       Right? So why does that work? Well, number one, I've made it easy. Now, you gotta make it easy because, you know, one, one of the problems, and I've seen this with patients over and over again, we overly rely on motivation, right? Now, motivation's important, and I know in your book Limitless you talk about motivation. It's one of your M's, right? So I get that. But I think we overly rely on motivation, and the scientific research shows us that motivation never stays up forever, right? That, you know, BJ calls it the motivation wave, right? Motivation comes up. Motivation goes down. So here's h- the reality that most people I don't think are applying in their life: If you make something difficult to do, you will do it when your motivation is high. Okay? What's the example of this? New Year, right? People wake up on New Year's Day and they decide, "This year's gonna be different. This year, I'm gonna go spinning four times a week."

   12. SPSpeaker6:17

       Mm.

   13. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee6:17

       Right? And they do it for two weeks or three weeks. They, they actually get it done. But then three weeks in, something happens. Work's busy. You know, in the UK it's raining or it's cold, it's dark, and you just can't be bothered, 'cause it's an hour spinning class. So before you know it, the start of February, it's something you used to do. So the problem is, is that you do the behavior when motivation's high, but when motivation's low, if the behavior is difficult, you don't end up doing it. But if you make the behavior easy to do, you'll do it when your motivation's high. You'll also do it when your motivation's low. So the reason I do a five-minute workout is because I can never say to myself, "Rangan, you don't have time. You don't have time for five minutes." So that's why, that's one of the reasons that habit has stuck now for almost four years. I've made it easy. So that's rule number one. Rule number two is where do you put that behavior that you want into

3. 7:17 – 11:36

   Rule Two: Stick the Habit onto an Existing Habit

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee7:17

      your life? A lot of people don't give this m- much thought. They just say, "I w- wanna work out. I wanna meditate." Okay, great. That's a great intention. There's all kinds of benefits for our brains when we do that, but they don't think specifically about, where am I going to put this in my life? Now, any behavior we do needs a trigger, right? Any behavior needs a trigger. So a trigger could be our memory, right? I could remember, hey, you know, I, I had a message with Jim a few weeks ago. We said on this day we were gonna get together and record, right? Memory works, it just happens to be the most unreliable trigger that there is. So I don't rely on my memory for important things like meeting you in my podcast studio. Most people listening don't. They have their Google Calendar or, or it will be written down, scheduled, the important things in their life, right? So memory is a trigger, just very unreliable. So what's a better trigger than memory? A better trigger would be some sort of Post-It Note, like a Post-It Note on your fridge or a notification on your phone saying, "Hey, in an hour's time, you gotta meet Jim," right? That also works, but the very best trigger for a behavior, as evidenced by the scientific research on behavior change, is when you stick that new behavior on to an existing habit, right? So your audience may have heard you talk about this before, because it works.

   2. SPSpeaker8:42

      Mm-hmm.

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee8:42

      Right? An existing habit is something you are automatically doing without much conscious thoughts.

   4. SPSpeaker8:47

      Like making coffee.

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee8:48

      Like making coffee, right? So in the morning, I don't need a notification to remind me to make coffee. I don't need my assistant to phone me at 5:30 or 6:00 AM, say, "Hey, Rangan, don't forget to make your coffee." I don't need my wife to remind me. No, it's a habit. I'm gonna do that. So therefore, not only am I gonna do it, I'm gonna enjoy it, right? So therefore, by sticking my workout onto my coffee habit, it happens. That's why it happens Monday to Sunday, because I don't miss a day on drinking my coffee. It's part of my morning routine. I love the ritual around it. It's quiet time for me. So I've made it easy. Again, I don't have to wear any special sports gear.

   6. SPSpeaker9:33

      Mm-hmm.

   7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:33

      I don't need to put on my running shorts. I do it in my pajamas. What else have I done to make it easy? I've, I've set my environment up to help me. So I used to do just body weight, but then a few years ago I put a kettlebell and a dumbbell in the kitchen. And I remember my wife and I had a conversation. She said, "Are you gonna leave this stuff out in the kitchen? Can't we just put it in the cupboard or put it in the garage?"

   8. SPSpeaker9:54

      Mm-hmm.

   9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:54

      And we actually had a conversation. I said, "Hey, babe, listen, if I put that in the cupboard or put it in the garage, I'm not gonna use it. But if it's in the kitchen, I'm gonna use it all the time." And again, it's one of those things. Out of sight is out of mind. Even if I pick up the weight just to move it out the way so I can get to my coffee-

   10. SPSpeaker10:15

       Mm-hmm

   11. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee10:15

       ... by having it there, I'm also visually triggering myself each morning to not forget to do it. So it's very simple, but let's be really clear about this. How many people listening to your show, Jim, know that moving their bodies, doing some sort of strength training is gonna help their brain? It's gonna improve blood flow, it's gonna improve circulation. It's gonna enhance the release of BDNF-

   12. SPSpeaker10:40

       Mm

   13. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee10:40

       ... brain-derived neurotrophic fats. I know you've spoken about that many times in the past, right?

   14. SPSpeaker10:44

       Yes. I hope all of our listeners know all of that already.

   15. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee10:46

       Right, so they know that.

   16. SPSpeaker10:48

       Yeah.

   17. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee10:48

       But some of them, despite knowing that, won't be moving as much as they want. They'll think, "Oh, man, I, I didn't get my movement in today," right?

   18. SPSpeaker10:57

       Mm-hmm.

   19. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee10:57

       "I, I want to." Oh, I, I hear... Yeah, I've just heard the latest research. We start losing muscle mass. As soon as we hit 30, our muscle mass starts to go down each year. We know that the amount of lean muscle mass we have is one of the main predictors of our longevity-

   20. SPSpeaker11:15

       Mm-hmm

   21. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee11:15

       ... right, and our health as we get older. Yet despite knowing that, they still think about strength training as something they're going to do in the future when the time is right, when they've got time. You know, when, when somehow miraculously things change, when the kids are always in bed on time, the email inbox is not gonna overflow.

   22. SPSpeaker11:34

       [laughs]

   23. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee11:34

       You know, it ain't gonna happen, right?

   24. SPSpeaker11:35

       Right.

4. 11:36 – 15:41

   Small Changes Add Up, and Business Uses These Rules Too

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee11:36

      So going back to your original question, is it realistic to change your life in five minutes? Well, I would say yes, because I've done this thousands of times with my patients, right? I've seen what works and what doesn't work. You know, it's over two decades now that I've been in practice, so I've seen tens of thousands of patients, and I've seen very few people, in my experience, manage to turn their lives around completely overnight. Like, very few completely do an overhaul where I'm gonna go an hour's jogging every day, 20 minutes of meditation every day. I, I've rarely seen it happen. The only time I've seen it happen, Jim- Is when there's been a significant life experience, you know, something like a job loss or there's been a death.

   2. SPSpeaker12:22

      Yeah.

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee12:23

      Or someone's girlfriend or boyfriend has split up with them. You know, something really big and emotional that has caused them to change everything. Sure, you can change your life overnight when that happens, but apart from that, I just haven't seen it that much. I've seen that these small changes-

   4. SPSpeaker12:39

      Yeah

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee12:39

      ... actually are the ones that add up. So in my life as a busy doctor, as a busy father, as a busy son, right, as a busy husband, I haven't missed a five-minute strength workout a day. So that means, what does that mean? That means in a week I'm doing minimum 35 minutes of strength training, right? And multiply that over four years, that's a lot of strength training, right? But I don't need motivation. I've set up a system-

   6. SPSpeaker13:06

      Yeah

   7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee13:06

      ... whereby it happens. Now, the beautiful thing about five minutes is that, you know, sure, some days it'll be four minutes, right? But on some days, I'll have time, I'll be feeling good, it'll be 10 minutes.

   8. SPSpeaker13:16

      Mm-hmm.

   9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee13:16

      Right? But the requirement to myself is that I at least do something whilst my coffee is brewing. And then, you know, BJ talks about rewarding yourself for these behaviors. Well, I get the beautiful reward-

   10. SPSpeaker13:29

       [laughs]

   11. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee13:30

       ... of a hot cup of coffee the way I want it, and then I continue my morning routine. But just one more thing, Jim, on that, which I really want people to understand, is business, big business understand the rules of behavior change, right? They understand it and they apply it. So when Amazon went to one-click ordering, right, and I think that was about 10 years ago now, estimates say their profits went up by $300 million a year, right? Now, why is that? Well, think back to before one-click ordering. What did you have to do? You, you scanned, you, you chose what you wanted. Then you have to go to a next screen, and in the next screen you have to, you know, confirm a few more things. Then the next one, you type in your card details. And the next one, you finally place order, right? Three or four steps that you have to take before-

   12. SPSpeaker14:21

       Yeah

   13. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee14:22

       ... you can place the order. Each step is an opportunity to pull out-

   14. SPSpeaker14:27

       Mm-hmm

   15. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee14:27

       ... or to procrastinate and not make that order, make that purchase. They make it easy. Before you've blinked now, before you can click, you've got something arriving that evening.

   16. SPSpeaker14:37

       Yes.

   17. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee14:38

       Right? So Amazon use it. I'm not having a go at them, right? They're a business. They're doing what they need to do to maximize profits, right? Netflix and YouTube, why does one video or one episode go into the next episode? They understand behavior change. They understand that if at the end of that episode, if before you've decided it's midnight, I need to go to bed now, you know, I've got work tomorrow morning, I need to get my sleep, it's good for my brain. If whilst you're trying to make that decision they have sucked you into the next one, they know-

   18. SPSpeaker15:14

       Yeah

   19. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee15:14

       ... you're gonna stay watching. So the point I'm trying to make is business knows how to use these rules to get you to buy more or consume more. But humans, when it comes to making positive lifestyle behavior choices for ourselves, we don't apply those rules. We think it's gotta be a 30-minute meditation session.

   20. SPSpeaker15:31

       Mm.

   21. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee15:32

       It's gotta be one hour of yoga. We think five minutes can't make a difference, but it absolutely can. And, uh, hopefully that's just one of many examples.

5. 15:41 – 17:57

   Why the Start of the Day Matters

   1. SPSpeaker15:41

      I love it. [swoosh] And that's a mindset shift as well, [bell dings] you know, that belief, it's a lie, that change can't happen or consistency can't happen in just a handful of minutes. [swoosh] You know, I, I do believe that if they've, they're using willpower and they're persistent, maybe they could achieve it. But if they're consistent, then they get to, to keep it.

   2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee15:58

      Yeah. And the, and the thing is, it's not that that's the only thing I do.

   3. SPSpeaker16:01

      Mm-hmm.

   4. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee16:02

      Sometimes I will have a, a longer workout later on in the day or go for a run, but for me, those are optional extras.

   5. SPSpeaker16:10

      Yeah.

   6. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee16:11

      These five-minute habits, just like brushing my teeth, it's not optional. It happens seven days a week. That strength workout happens seven days a week, and I know whoever's listening to this and they feel they're too busy to work out, right? I have adopted this approach with hundreds if not thousands of my patients, and I've seen over and over again for the busiest people, this works really, really well. So it's not like ... I'm not saying don't do anything else. Anything else is, you know, it's, it's an optional extra. But just like I brush my teeth every day, I do a strength workout every day. Now, there's two other things I do as part of my morning routine. Now, why do I do it in the morning? I share the philosophy that you share, I think, which is the start of the day and the end of the day are really, really important.

   7. SPSpeaker17:03

      Mm.

   8. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee17:03

      If we start the day allowing the world to dictate what we think, what we do, then I think it's no wonder that we end up in a reactive state. It's no wonder we end up doing things that we never wanted to do.

   9. SPSpeaker17:18

      Yeah.

   10. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee17:19

       We, we don't reali- I think many of us don't realize how important those opening minutes of the day are. Again, for people who say they're busy, right? I'll maybe share a story in a minute about one of my patients who was a single mother. I think she had two kids from recollection. She would always be rushing around, but I helped her create a five-minute morning routine that worked for her, that really helped lower her stress levels, and then reduced how many skin outbreaks she was getting, because I strongly felt-

   11. SPSpeaker17:46

       Wow

   12. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee17:46

       ... that stress was driving a lot of her skin problems. And so I have this little framework for a morning routine that maybe I'll share with your audience.

   13. SPSpeaker17:56

       Yeah, let's do it.

6. 17:57 – 20:38

   The Three Ms Morning Framework: Mindfulness

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee17:57

      And again, you know, maybe it sounds ironic as a doctor, I don't like giving set prescriptions to people because I understand we're all different.

   2. SPSpeaker18:03

      Mm-hmm.

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee18:03

      We all have different preferences. We all have had different experiences with different lifestyle behaviors. We all have different cultural backgrounds. So- I like to create frameworks that people can then personalize for themselves. So the framework I use to create my morning routine that I use with my patients to help them create theirs is what I call the three Ms. Okay? The first M is mindfulness.

   4. SPSpeaker18:28

      Mm-hmm.

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee18:28

      The second M is movement, and the third M is mindset. Right. So let's start with the first M, mindfulness. Some form of activity that you enjoy that's gonna help you be more mindful. Okay? So it could be meditation, it could be breathwork, i- it could be journaling if you want. Like, something, some form of mindful practice. Now, for me, at the moment, it's breathwork. Right. So I'll get up. Now, I'm early to bed and early to rise. That's a choice I've made, particularly since I've had children, because I realized, uh, very early on into my career as a father that I'm a better human being, I'm a better dad, I'm a better husband, I'm a better doctor when I've had time to myself each morning before the family are up and about. You know, I think there's some self-awareness there that I've learned that I function better when I get up early and have time to myself, so I always get up early. These days it's about 4:30 or 5:00. Again, I'm not saying people have to do this. I don't use an alarm clock. I naturally wake up then. And so I'll come downstairs and I'll do some breathwork. Now, I am at a point in my life where I do have a bit more time, so it is more than five minutes now for me, but it wasn't for many years. It was just five minutes, and I, I wanna make sure people understand that because you can get benefit in probably less than five minutes even. So let's say it was five minutes of breathwork. Okay? And there's many practices out there. The breathing practice I love is something that I call the 3-4-5 breath, where you breathe in for three, you hold for four, and you breathe out for five. Okay? The 3-4-5 breath. Any time that your out breath is longer than your in breath, you help to switch off the sympathetic part of the nervous system, the, the kinda stress state, and you help to promote the parasympathetic state, the relaxation state. Right? There's a million breath practices out there. You don't have to do this one. But for many years this is what I did. Okay? People should find the ones that they enjoy, that work for them. So the first M is mindfulness, right? So you choose a practice.

7. 20:38 – 22:02

   Movement and Mindset: Completing the Routine

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee20:38

      The second M is movement. Right? So I just shared already-

   2. SPSpeaker20:42

      Mm-hmm

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee20:43

      ... my five-minute movement practice whilst my coffee is brewing, right? So I've done my breathwork in the living room, I come into the kitchen and make my coffee, do my workout whilst the coffee's brewing, and then that leads me nicely onto the third M, which is mindset. All mindset means for me, you could do affirmations if you want, but what I like doing, I like, you know, I'm a big fan of reading.

   4. SPSpeaker21:04

      Me too.

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee21:05

      I like to read a positive or an uplifting or a thought-provoking book first thing in the morning. So I've, I've got the reward of my nice cup of black coffee that I've made the way I like it.

   6. SPSpeaker21:18

      Mm-hmm.

   7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee21:19

      I've always got three or four books kicking around my kitchen and my living room because I don't want procrastination. I don't want to come down in the morning and go, "Oh, where are the books?" or, "Which one shall I read today?"

   8. SPSpeaker21:31

      Mm.

   9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee21:31

      You know, like I said with Amazon and the order, every decision you have to make, right, it's a reason to procrastinate, it's a reason to pull out. So I've made the choice, um, to read something, and this happens every day. This happens seven days a week, right? Again, I've automated it. I've automated it so I don't need to think, and that's why it happens every day. So again, I, I'd encourage people to, if they find it useful, and of course some people it's not gonna resonate

8. 22:02 – 23:24

   The Single Mother's Five-Minute Routine

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee22:02

      with them, but for people who do, give it a try. Try that 3M practice in the morning. See if you can personalize it for yourself. And just to close the loop on that 42, I think she was 42-year-old single mother who said she didn't have time, I taught her the three Ms. And do you know what she did? She did one minute of 3-4-5 breathing.

   2. SPSpeaker22:21

      Mm-hmm.

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee22:21

      So that was for her, for her mind.

   4. SPSpeaker22:23

      Mm-hmm.

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee22:23

      She did two minutes of yoga. She just chose some of her favorite moves. Two minutes of yoga. And then for the final, um, mindset, she did two minutes of affirmations. That was it.

   6. SPSpeaker22:37

      Five minutes total.

   7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee22:38

      Five minutes total.

   8. SPSpeaker22:39

      Yeah.

   9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee22:40

      Right? And what that did is it showed her how she could feel. She d- she never knew. She didn't experience that feeling of calm and control, and she did that first thing in the morning. Five minutes, skin got better, stress started going down, and a few months later she then expanded that into, I think, 20 minutes, 25 minutes. So the reason five minutes is so powerful, A, it works in and of itself, but once you realize how good you can feel with five-minute practices, very quickly you want more, right? So you naturally start to do more. So yeah, I, I, you know, coming back to your first question, can you change your life in five minutes? Absolutely.

   10. SPSpeaker23:24

       Yeah.

9. 23:24 – 25:16

   The Challenge: Pick One Thing and Apply the Two Rules

   1. SPSpeaker23:24

      Your, that's positive proof of it. Well, let's, you wanna challenge people who are listening or watching this right now, what, what can they do? What, what do you wanna challenge them? And they'll maybe make a post, they could, uh, tag you, they could tag me in it, and share-

   2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee23:38

      What they're do- yeah, like, you know-

   3. SPSpeaker23:39

      Yeah, like their five minute-

   4. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee23:39

      ... the, the first thing I want them to reflect on is, 'cause, look, people who listen to your show, Jim, are going to be very motivated in general.

   5. SPSpeaker23:47

      Mm-hmm.

   6. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee23:47

      I would say. They're, they're wanting to make changes, positive changes in their life.

   7. SPSpeaker23:52

      Yeah.

   8. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee23:52

      Right? So I want everyone listening to think back now and go, "What was the behavior I tried to bring into my life that I wasn't able to make stick?"

   9. SPSpeaker24:01

      Mm-hmm.

   10. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee24:01

       And then think about those two rules that I've just outlined. Number one, you gotta make it easy. Number two, you gotta stick it onto an existing habit.

   11. SPSpeaker24:08

       Mm-hmm.

   12. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee24:08

       I bet that the majority of people who weren't able to make that behavior stick-

   13. SPSpeaker24:13

       Mm-hmm

   14. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee24:14

       ... were not following at least one of those rules. Of course, not in every case, but in most cases I've found they made the behavior too hard or they hadn't been intentional about where to put it. So first of all, reflect on that. And then I guess the challenge would be, you know, what's one thing, right? Let's not make it difficult.

   15. SPSpeaker24:31

       Yeah.

   16. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee24:32

       Right? There's all kinds of lifestyle behaviors you're gonna hear about on this podcast, on Instagram, w- on social media. The problem is that we've got too much information these days. It's like, oh, I sh- I need to do yoga and Pilates and martial arts and this. You can't do it all, right? Pick one thing and apply those two rules. Break it down to something really, really simple, and intentionally stick it onto an existing habit. Maybe borrow my five-minute kitchen workout if you want. Yeah. Right? If you want to, it's, there's a ... You wanna see what I do, there's a video on YouTube called Five Minute Kitchen Workout, right? But it doesn't matter what you do. Do your favorite moves, whatever it is. Yeah. It doesn't matter. And then, you know, maybe tag you and me- Yeah ... on social media. Let us know what you're doing. I love it. That's all you have to do.

10. 25:16 – 26:47

    A Psychotherapist's Story and Closing Message

    1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee25:16

       And s- just one more thing, Jim, I just wanna say, for people who are skeptical about five minutes, I spoke to a, an amazing psychotherapist on my show called Julia Samuel once, and she said to me, "Rangan, your book, Feel Better in 5, actually saved one of my patients' lives." I said, "What do you mean, Julia?" She said, "I had a patient who was really bad, suicidal, in a really, really dark place. Everything felt too much for that individual, and I gave them your book, and I said, 'Just pick one thing.'" Hmm. And she said it was unbelievable because actually, by making it so simple, he actually started to do them. Right? He started off with five minutes- Yeah ... and, you know, bit by bit he made other changes, and now, now is doing very well. Yeah. Right? But that was really profound for me, 'cause I knew five minutes worked, 'cause I've seen it over and over again- Yeah ... with myself and with my patients. But when Julia told me that about one of her suicidal patients, I just wanna share that, 'cause I know someone- Yeah. Yeah ... listening will know someone who is not doing well. Yeah. So please do share those techniques and principles with them. It, it really doesn't need to be hard. If you now wanna switch your attention to the morning, click here, where I walk you through how to create the perfect morning routine to help you with your health and happiness. You've actually made yourself more resilient. You've moved yourself the other way. You've actually lengthened the distance between where you currently are and your stress threshold and where you're gonna be after that morning routine

Episode duration: 26:48